How to Plant Paperwhites

I wanted to remind you today that Christmas are right around the corner. And instead of giving an ugly sweater or some scented foot powder to your aunt Martha this year, why not grab a few rocks, some sort of container and a handful of paperwhite bulbs instead. Because if you start now, you’ll be able to turn a couple of bucks, into a beautiful gift.

If you have never planted paperwhites before don’t worry. The process is super easy. Go down to your local hardware store or nursery and grab a few bulbs.

Place some fancy rocks at the bottom on your container {I stole mine from my mother’s bathroom while she was on vacation a long time ago}. You want to make sure you have about 2″ of rocks.

Then add some paperwhite bulbs {pointy side up}. Make sure the bulbs are not touching. Once you have the bulbs where you want them, add a few more rocks to hold then in place {just in case}.

You can also add a wee bit of moss to the top as well {don’t worry about it if you don’t have any}. Then add just enough water to cover the base of the bulbs, and place the bulbs away from direct sunlight until they all have green shoots popping up. Once that happens, place your container in a sunnier location.

Paperwhites should be ready for gift giving within 4 weeks of planting.

I absolutely love paperwhites. I actually plant them outside in my garden, because my husband hates the smell (I love it). Mine started blooming last week; I cut a couple of stems and brought them in today. I keep them in my sewing room so that my husband doesn’t smell them.

I like amayllis, too. But the paper whites reflower every year in the garden for me. The amaryllss will live in my garden (I’m in a zone 9) but they never reflower for me.

I would suggest that people smell these before spending a lot of money on bulbs. I find the odor so foul that I cannot stand them anyplace in the house. Yet I know people who love them.

That being said, I am one of those people for whom skunk smells just like lemon. We used to take drives with my dad when I was a kid and I was always looking for the lemon orchards. Turns out my younger sister is the same and then years later I saw an ad in some research journal looking for people who smelled lemon instead of skunk. I am not alone!